​This is an IGA lecture given by GSI's former director Peadar McArdle about Thomas Weaver.

Abstract: Thomas Weaver was an accomplished engineer and geologist who successfully managed Avoca's main copper mine and brought order to the nearby gold workings. An engaging personality, Weaver would partake as enthusiastically in a local ploughing contest as in a scholarly debate. His story sheds light on industrial and social conditions in pre-Famine Ireland and elsewhere. He was active at a time when geology was coming of age as a scientific discipline. Science has been described as a journey without destination, where theories are constantly challenged and remain valid only until they are undermined by new evidence. Yet, as the current climate-change debate shows, there can be an alarming intolerance for the very dissent that should be critical to validating its conclusions. This proved to be the case in Weaver's lifetime as he took issue with emerging mindsets and was eventually marginalised as a result.

When and where: The lecture theatre in the Geological Survey Ireland on Wednesday, March 21st, between 6:30 and 7:30 pm. Coffee and biscuits will available from 5:30 pm. All welcome.